Japan Religion

Meredith Hubbell

Japan E400

All around the world, religion is a dominant idea for many cultures; exemplifying a certain way of life, serving as a basis for faith, and bringing charity to the world, religion is a extensive concept. For several cultures and countries religion may vary according to demographics, socio-economical class, and ethnicity. Main concepts of religion in Japan are natural and superstitious based. The leading religion in Japan remains Shinto, while other religions have come and go, interweaving themselves among the Japanese society.

For any Japanese person who may practice Shinto, another religion that may dually be practiced is Buddhism. Are these religions common to one another in theory? Do they serve the same purposes? And what other religions claim a popular following in Japan? While Buddhism was brought over to Japan via China and Korea in the 6th century, Shinto seems to have always resided in Japan (Japan-Guide.com, 2007).

The religion of Shinto is still today very mysterious because "in some areas there is still no certain knowledge...in the course of the centuries many Japanese have written extensively on Shinto but these are largely expressions of their individual points of view. Except for the relatively short three-quarters of a century of regimentation after the Meiji Restoration when there was an artificial, government-created authoritative interpretation of Shinto, there has not been any large body of interpretation that is generally accepted" (Ono, Sokyo ix).

Buddhism was founded by the teachings of Guatama Siddhartha who was born around 6th century B.C. in Nepal. The spread of Buddhism took many centuries, and didn't reach Japan until 6th century A.C. (Buddhanet). Although there are many sects of Buddhism, the main teachings are universal in The Four Noble Truths. These teachings from Siddhartha himself lay the foundation of Buddhism itself.

The first Nobel truth; Life means suffering.

"To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death. (The Big View).

The second Noble Truth is that the origin of suffering is attachment to worldly desires.

"The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof... The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursue of wealth, prestige, striving for fame and popularity" (The Big View).

The third Nobel Truth is the cessation of suffering is attainable.

"Extinguishing all forms of clinging and attachment... Suffering can be overcome through human activity simply by removing the cause of suffering" (The Big View).

The Fourth Noble Truth is to follow the Eightfold Path.

"A gradual self-improvement by following the way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence and excessive self-mortification"(The Big View).

Although the Four Nobel Truths are great concepts of Buddhism there are many other aspects that make up Buddhism. Daily practice of meditation helps develop one's sense of awareness, to grow, and develops compassion and loving kindness (Buddhanet). Following the laws of Karma and following right speech are also integral to Buddhism.

In the religion of Shinto, which was founded as Japan's state religion in the Meiji Period, there is no absolute right or wrong and humans are seen as fundamentally good (buddhanet). The purpose of rituals in the Shinto religion are to cast away evil spirits by means of purification, prayers and offerings.

"The Way of the Gods" or "Kami" is the literal translation of Shinto. "Unlike Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam, Shinto has neither a founder, such as Guatama the Enlightened One, Jesus the Messiah or Mohammed the Prophet; nor does it have sacred scriptures, such as the sutras of Buddhism, the Bible or the Koran" (Ono Sokyo 3). Shinto appears very little in history, as there is no significant teachings or information surrounding the ideas. Shinto is more than just a religious faith; it is a collection of ideas, attitudes on ways of doing things and through history has become an "integral part of the way of the Japanese people" (Ono, Sokyo, 3).

"The kami-concept today includes the idea of justice, order, and divine favor (blessing), and implies the basic principle that the kami function harmoniously in cooperation with one another and rejoice in the evidence of harmony and cooperation in this world" (Ono Sokyo, 7). This concept is basically the same as it was in ancient Japan, only few things have changed in regards to theory on Shinto.

The kami of the Shinto religion serve different purposes for the Japanese. Their culture revolves around kami who protect different things such as places, processes and natural orders. The Shinto gods can take many different forms, such as mountains, trees, rocks, wind, and rain. When a human dies they become ancestral kami and are worshipped as such (Japan-Guide). This idea of kami is very different in contrast to Buddhism , where they do not believe in kami, but in a force that which is made up of all living things and holds the universe together (leaderu).

This difference between Buddhism and Shinto may be the key to why they are so easily practiced together. There is no fundamental conflict between each religions kami, and there is no need to favor one over the other. The practice of Buddhism is earthly compassion while the practice of Shinto is otherworldly compassion.

There are different types of Shinto, just as in Buddhism, that the Japanese follow. There is popular Shinto practice in everyday life of kami-worship, and Domestic Shinto referring to home practice, and shrine Shinto is the oldest and most prevalent type (Ono, Sokyo, 12). Shinto does no appear to have branches or sects of difference among its worshippers, and the ideas across Japan are fundamentally the same.

In Buddhism each branch may have many different sects of practice. Theravada Buddhism, which teaches the psychological understanding of human nature and emphasis a meditative approach on transformation of consciousness (Buddhanet). The Mahayana, another sect of Buddhism, teaches a variety of practices such as yoga. This sect of Buddhism branches out into many different lineages such as Pure Land, Avatamska and T'ien T'ai.

Elements of Worpship for Shinto are performed at srhines, and involve four different